Hello all!
This week, I was able to have a sit-down with the author of “Dead Are Alive: a zombie western” Jason Thacker. It’s always fun, after reading a novel you’ve really enjoyed, to be able to speak with its creator. It lends a personal touch to the story and the characters contained within, if you will. Also, it allows the readers/fans a little insight into the author’s goals/hopes and what their thought process was as they created their latest project (hopefully full of zombie-killin’ goodness!)
And lets face it; I love doing interviews because while I’m addicted reading good fiction (zombie and otherwise) sometimes yours truly has a habit of going off on seemingly scatterbrained topics.
(Heh-heh! Scatterbrained… Killing zombies? Scattering brains? …Maybe it was funnier in my head…)
So, without further ado, here’s the creator of  six-gun totin’ zombie killers himself, Mr. Jason Thacker!.

SPD-Hey Jason. Many people think interviews are just a “wham-bam, lick and a promise” conversation, not something that actually requires time and effort from all involved (author and reviewer alike!), so me first say thank you for taking the time out of your busy life (and away from writing!) to speak with us for the fans.

Jason- I’m glad to be here! Thank you for doing this interview, and thank you readers for reading this.

SPD-Now let’s get down to brass tacks.

I recently was able to review your new work “Dead Are Alive” for buyzombie.com and have to say it was very enjoyable. Can you share a bit of what the book is about our readers?

Jason- Sure. Dead Are Alive is a zombie western that is set in the fictional town of Hazel. Bounty hunter Fred Douglas is tipped off about a church robbery and the murder of the reverend’s wife, Gwen. Gwen’s murderer just so happens to be Hazel’s corrupt lawman, Sheriff Wellman. So after a failed attempt to bring down the sheriff, Fred is locked away in Hazel’s jailhouse and awaits execution by hanging. While Fred is there, an experimental scorpion antivenom turns some children into flesh hungry zombies. They begin a feasting frenzy on the citizens of Hazel and leave a trail of dead that rises to join them. The number of survivors dwindle fast, and it’s up to the lone few to take back their town from the cold dead hands of the living dead.

SPD- How did you go about creating the world of “Dead Are Alive”?

Jason- When I started writing Dead Are Alive I wanted an element there in Hazel that could possibly be a very good thing, or a really, really bad thing for the victims… oops, I mean citizens. The thing is, Hazel is completely surrounded by sheer cliff walls, except for a small opening that is protected by a large wooden gate, which was a leftover from an old fort that used to be there. The isolation could be a great advantage for them to keep out the oncoming hordes. And then again, those walls could be a huge problem for those trying to get out of the town.

Also, Hazel is a smaller town so the victims… heh, heh, there I go again, I mean, the CITIZENS are familiar with each other. They all have this feeling of kinship with one another. So that makes the events that unfold even harder for them to deal with. Each person that falls to the dead feels to them like they’re loosing a brother or sister.

SPD- Have you always been a fan of the Old West and is that what prompted you to create a zombie novel in a historical setting, as opposed to a more current time?

Jason- Actually I have not always been a huge fan of the Old West. I started getting into westerns shortly before I got the idea for Dead Are Alive. Then I thought what a tasty mixture that would make! Zombies in the Old West. I thought it was something that hadn’t been done before. Well, I was wrong. Big time wrong! There are actually quite a few zombie westerns out there that I had no idea existed. But now I know, and I am very aware of their awesomeness. I actually really love westerns in general now. Writing and researching this book has opened me up to a whole new genre that I had overlooked for far too long.

SPD- Many authors use vast arrays of modern day firearms throughout their novels (which I’ll admit, normally I enjoy), but “Dead Are Alive” proved (at least to ME!) that gunfighters of yesteryear could successfully obliterate ghouls. Seeing how weaponry was far more basic in the Old West (no full-auto carbines, night vision, C4, etc) did you find working with six-shooters, bolt-action rifles, maybe a little dynamite, at all limiting?

Jason- It was limiting, but in a very good way. Without having the convenience of Fred suddenly stumbling upon a massive collection of machine guns and rocket launchers it really made me have to think outside the normal space of the genre. It really adds a sense of urgency to each shot, because with only a few rounds to be fired, every shot has to count. And for those who have yet to read the book, I won’t spoil nothing, but know this, the group does discover some exciting techniques for zombie disposal with a few certain wooden handled, curved bladed garden tools.

SPD- A few readers may complain that some (not all, some) of the female characters in the novel seem weak or waif-like, while the males filled the more authoritative roles. (Please everyone? Before the hate e-mails start rolling in; no, neither Jason nor I myself are in at all sexist.) I understand, and agree with, why you depicted the sexes of the time in said way due to the culture of the time. Can you enlighten those who may not understand the reasoning behind it?

Jason- Well like you said, it was the culture of the time. I wanted Dead Are Alive to be as real and believable as possible. It was a different time and a very different world than the one we live in today. It really shows how far we’ve come as a society since then, and makes you just sit back and think, “Wow! We’ve really come a long way in just a hundred or so years.” I think readers will find a very strong female character in Nataleigh though. She becomes a vital member to the group once she joins them.

SPD- From production on the first book (and now second) of my own trilogy, I know exactly how much research goes into creating a novel. What resources aided you with your historical preparation, and which do you recommend for people wishing to know more about the time during which “Dead Are Alive” is set?

Jason- I mostly used Wikipedia and various other websites to get my historical facts. Other than that, I used some of the great westerns of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne as inspiration. I got the inspiration for Fred’s character from a countdown show on The History Channel about the Old West’s deadliest assassins. One of the top assassins in the old west was Jim Miller, also known as “Killer Miller” or “Deacon Jim”. He is believed to have been one, if not THE deadliest assassin in the Old West. What intrigued me about him was the fact that not only did he kill so many people, he also regularly attended church. I thought this was a very interesting combination. A devoted man who attended church constantly, yet was one of the deadliest killers in the west. So Fred is loosely based on Jim Miller. I would highly recommend anyone wanting to find out more about the world of the Old West to check out some of those movies I mentioned, shows on The History Channel, and do some internet searches.

SPD- I know, I know. It seems that almost everyone asks this next question so, no surprise here. What initially drew you to the zombie genre?

Jason- Ha, ha, I don’t understand why anyone WOULDN’T be drawn to the zombie genre! For me it’s just that factor of, “what if”. It’s something that I could really see happening, and that is very scary. Even if there weren’t zombies, an apocalyptic situation could arise and the circumstances could be very similar. How would people react if we were to loose electricity in just this country for just a few months, maybe even years? We have become so dependent on our technology, we panic when we don’t have it. When the electricity goes out for a few hours because of a storm, I go crazy! I would think, after a while, people would start running out of supplies and then there would be some people that would start stealing from others. People will protect what the have from others, and from there on out, it would just be fighting to stay alive for as long as possible. And that is the biggest element in most zombie stories, the character’s struggle to live day by day.

SPD- With the current popularity of zombies in general, movies, novels, TV shows, comics (which in my opinion is long overdue), why do you think people are so driven/obsessed with the idea of mobile, hungry corpses?

Jason- Zombies are monsters that represent us. Those shuffling rotters at one time were living human beings. They once had families and loved ones, but once turned, all they seem to care about is eating those loved ones. It’s not quite like vampires, werewolves, or any other monster. Even though zombies are killing machines and want nothing more than to eat your insides, they still look exactly like who they were before. How scary, having your best friend, spouse, or next door neighbor chewing away on your limbs? Also, we’re living in a time that it really seems like some of the stuff in the movies, TV shows, and books could actually happen.

SPD- Who are some of your own favorite authors, of zombie themed novels or otherwise?
Jason- Mr. Eric S. Brown is by far one of my greatest influences. His stories are so fun to read and I really can get lost in them. And not only is he a great writer, he is also one of the nicest guys I’ve had the pleasure to talk to. I’m also a big Joe McKinney fan. He’s also a super nice guy! I still consider his novel, “Dead City” to be one of the best zombie novels ever written. T.W. Brown is another writer that I really like. His “Dead” series is so character driven. I love it when there’s something so big happening in a story and you get so involved with the characters. It’s like all of the zombies and other stuff plays second fiddle to what’s going on with those people, and you just worry so much about their well-being. Any writer that can make that happen and get their readers so caught up in their characters and their world really has a special gift. It’s so important for the reader to have that kind of connection with the characters. And I’m very excited to say, all three of these writers that I look up to kindly gave me a blurb or intro to use for Dead Are Alive. That was a very surreal moment to have them all three agree to read my story. The folks in the horror community have been an awesome group of people to get to know. They’ve all been so kind and helpful. It really is like a big family.

SPD- Lots zombie fans keep a B.O.B. (bug-out-bag) and even the CDC recently hopped on the bandwagon (even though they’ve said having a disaster pack in the home is a good idea for years now) with their “Zombie Preparedness Comic”. Do you yourself keep a B.O.B.? If so, can you share some of the items you recommend that people have in case of an emergency?

Jason- I’m ashamed to say, I do not keep one. I really should though! So we’re gonna make a list right now and I’m going to Wal-Mart as soon as we’re done to get the stuff on the list. So here goes! First, we’re gonna need a knife… a knife that’ll do it all! So of course, I’m gonna need to get the Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Survival Knife! Have you seen the man use this beast? It’ll split wood, start fires, and it’s got holes at the end of the handle incase you wanna tie it to a stick and make a spear! Did you hear me? A SPEAR! I am being nothing but serious here folks. Come to think of it, that’s all I’m gonna need. The Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Survival Knife! And a big stick.

SPD- While many laugh at the idea, hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people around the globe believe an “infected” zombie-style outbreak to be completely possible, especially in this day and age of genetically engineered bio-weapons and readily available worldwide travel. Can you share your opinion on the subject?

Jason- I think it’s a very good possibility. In fact, I recently read an article where a scientist actually proves that a zombie virus could happen, and it would be very bad. But they lean more towards an airborne virus sweeping across the country and causing the chaos to erupt. Crazy stuff!

SPD- From your work on “Dead Are Alive”, which do you think have a better chance of surviving a zombie-fueled apocalypse: the people of the Old West or those who live in modern times, and why?

Jason- Well, I really think the people of the Old West have us beat there. Just look at half of the stuff they actually did survive. The Old West was a very violent time, and not only that, look at all of the diseases they had to deal with too. They didn’t have the luxury of driving to the doctor’s office for a quick checkup at the first signs of a sniffle or two. Nope, they had to find ways to make it on their own. They lived hard, and knew how to survive because that’s just what you had to do back then in order to live a “normal” life. We live in a world with high-efficiency washer and dryers, they had scrub boards and wash tubs. And believe me, that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to our comparisons. Sure though, we might also have more advanced weaponry today too, but saying that’s the reason we would have a better chance is like giving the key to a Dodge Viper to one person, and then handing the other guy a key to a Vespa scooter and telling them to race. It just isn’t a fair comparison. Give the cowboy that machine gun and watch what he could do with that puppy.

SPD- During a zombie outbreak, what location/destination would you attempt to reach and whom would you want to have along as your companions/fellow survivors?

Jason- I think one of the safest places to be during a zombie outbreak would be on a oil rig or somewhere that’s out in the middle of a body of water. Not an island though… zombies can walk under water, so I ain’t gonna have a bunch of dead folks coming up on shore and crashing my beach party. The place would have to be standing above the water, so they couldn’t get near us. But we would still need a boat to go on runs to get supplies. Who I would want to have aboard my oil rig of survival? My wife and our families, our friends need to be there, and anybody that has read Dead Are Alive (They are my friends too).

SPD- What’s next for Jason Thacker as an author and do you have further projects in the works?

Jason- I’m still out there promoting my book, “Dead Are Alive” and my horror short story collection, “King and Other Chilling Tales”. As far as writing, I’m currently working on expanding my short story, “The Mothman Isn’t Real” into my second novel. After that, I’ve got a huge amount of other ideas for novels and short stories that I’m working with. It’s just a matter of figuring out which project to run with first. I’ve got enough to keep me busy for years down the road though. Anybody that’s interested in keeping up with my latest projects and reading my random ramblings can do so at my blog, http://jasonthacker.wordpress.com Also you can stop by and Like my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/authorjasonthacker where I post updates, random videos, and other things that I find pretty stinkin’ funny or amusing.

Alright people, that’s it for this installment. Once again, a big  THANK YOU to Jason Thacker for taking the time to talk with us about his most recent novel “Dead Are Alive: a zombie western”.Until next time, drink your Dark by the pint, hold your redhead close, and keep your crowbar handy…!